Virginia Commonwealth University in Qatar’s (VCU-Q) Gallery will host the opening reception for ‘Muhawwil (Transformer)’, an exhibition on Islamic figurative murals, by Kuwaiti artist Monira al-Qadiri on January 18 at 6pm.
‘Muhawwil’ is a four-channel video installation based on Islamic figurative murals on electric power stations throughout Kuwait. The exhibition, which will run until February 18, is open to the public.
These murals mark a transformation in religious discourse within Gulf societies: where once only calligraphic depictions of this nature were allowed. Today’s pop-culture and the mass-production of images have forced conservative entities to reconsider this tradition and adopt a mutated technique to convey moral advice in the form of wall paintings.
This project reconstructs these paintings into animations, so as to highlight the dilemma of representation that exists between the ancient and the modern. Al-Qadiri is part of the artist collective, GCC, and she will be participating in Tasmeem 2017, VCU-Qatar’s biannual art conference.
The exhibition is curated by Maysaa al-Mumin, VCU-Qatar assistant professor in Art Foundation. The gallery will be open for the public from 9am to 5pm Saturday to Thursday.